Show dog coat care

"John,
I have read with a great deal of interest your suggestions for coat care. Although I have never seen any of your Tibetan's, I understand that you do an extremely good job with their hair.

I am in agreement with almost all of what you said, from blowing and brushing out the tangles, to getting the dog to lie down, to using #1 All Systems products and Crown Royale. The question that I have is related to the Show Sheen product (it even slipped out of my hand when I picked it up!). Do you find that with its use (Show Sheen) that you do not oil your dogs? You made no mention of using any of the coat oils, I am currently using a combination of #1 All Systems Lanolin mixed with Summerwinds. I have used Bio Groom's Vita Oil in the past. All of the rest of my products are #1 All Systems, shampoo, botanical conditioner, whitener. I like the Crown Royale as a grooming spray. It appears from your note that the Show Sheen makes oiling unnecessary. Is this the case? Next week is the Del Monte KC show at Pebble Beach, at which I will use the Show Sheen for the first time. I'm showing a 22 month old dog, who finished in 10 shows, with 1 Grp IV, but he was a wonderful red that is starting to silver, so we all know the basic coat type. Let me know what you think, if you would at your convenience."

Response

The question on oiling the coats is a difficult one. Our specials bitch whom Ron saw in Cleveland was kept in oil for a short period of time. We have tried many different techniques with her and the others' coats. We don't use oil at this time for several reasons. I frankly didn't notice too much difference when the dogs were in oil.

We did notice a big difference however when we started using show sheen. The purpose of oil is to reduce tangles or the tendency to mat, and to protect the coat, and so if used properly there is less coat breakage. I can't say that it improves texture or puts back natural oils stripped away with constant bathing etc. The main cause of breakage in my opinion is brushing a dirty coat before and in between baths, and therefor I think the bath/show sheen approach works just as well if not better than oil. The product coats the hair shaft and affords a similar protection. But either won't mean much if the coat is being broken during dirty coat brushing. Some of the dogs we put in oil in fact matted more. Most of this really depends on the particular coat. They all are a little different and respond differently to different approaches. We have also started a simpler is better approach. One of our 2 year olds responds beautifully to nothing else but Flex people shampoo and show sheen. So go figure? We also don't believe in taking an over protective approach. The show and non show dogs all play together, wrestle and do all the normal TT things in the house and yard. I am sure this does not help some of the coats, but they are dogs and family members first and foremost. If a coat gets damaged with these natural activities, it is probably not much of a coat to start with. I would rather try to improve this type of coat within the breeding program. We also can't really use oil in the winter as the insulating factor is gone and our guys love to play outside in the snow...the colder the better!

Some of the thinner type coats can look stringy with certain combinations. The same combination makes a thicker coated dog look like an OES. In all probability the most important factor is how good the basic coat is to start with. Any of these combinations won't really help a poor quality coat. The whole point is, no matter what the type of coat, minimizing the damage or breakage caused by brushing has the most impact.

For years people told us not to use Show Sheen because it was a silicone based product that over time would make the coat brittle and break. Meanwhile every time they brushed they would have bags full of coat on their brushes! We were cautious at first and used it only on the retired dogs who are kept in full coat. We did not notice any of the problems we were warned about. Part of our switching to this routine was that we have 14 TT's, and all but 2 are in full coat. There is no way we could be brushing all the time between bathing. The only brushing we do now is after a bath (except in extreme cases) which saves a lot of time.

Your approach with a show coat will likely be a trial and error type of thing. You may or may not like the Show Sheen product. I certainly would not hesitate to recommend it to 'pet' people who are having trouble eliminating mats. Ron's dogs (at least the ones I have seen) have a nice coat texture, what I call 'Victor Mature' hair. We have some of those types as well and they are easier to care for than the bushier types.

One of the big advantages of Show Sheen is that it seems to make the coat dry faster and smoother, and it gives a very finished look to a show coat, and lasts all weekend for those 3 day shows. It also seems to hold down those fly away type coats better. The techniques used in brushing after a bath are also often overlooked. People do not fully dry the undercoat, or ears and other areas that can go curly if left damp. So no matter what you use if you don't do a good job of brushing out after the bath (stroke technique, stroke direction, hierarchy of coat areas brushed), the coat still may not look it's best.

In a final note the area you live in and levels of humidity will have a big impact on your coat. I would probably listen to Ron if you have his lines because he will be more familiar with your dogs' coat type. Assuming you live in California you are probably more exposed to damage from sun etc.

Good luck with your showing at Pebble Beach. You might want to experiment before the show (we all tend to experiment at the shows for some reason), and see if the product works for you. Remember to towel pat the dog after bathing for a minute or so to remove excess moisture. 1 spritz in each area of coat is plenty. Make sure you lift the coat to get the product on the undercoat. Work it in with your fingers for a minute and then brush quickly and efficiently with a low heat setting on your dryer.